Hydrocarbon fluids such as oil and natural gas are obtained from subterranean geologic formations (i.e., “reservoirs”) by drilling wells that penetrate the hydrocarbon-bearing formations. Once a wellbore has been drilled, the well must be “completed” before hydrocarbons can be produced from the well. A well completion involves the design, selection, and installation of tubulars such as production tubing, drill pipes, landing nipples, gas lift mandrels, flow control devices, subsurface safety valves, packers, and collars with associated tools and equipment, such as perforation guns, that are located in the wellbore. The purpose of well completion is to convey, pump, and/or control the production or injection of fluids in the well. After the well has been completed, increased production of hydrocarbons in the form of oil and gas begins.
In many cases it is necessary to lower one piece of equipment into the well so that it can be installed, activated, inventoried, accessed, or otherwise manipulated according to a particular location in the wellbore (e.g., installing a gas lift valve in a particular gas lift mandrel when there may be several gas lift mandrels at different depths in the wellbore). Often it is necessary to perform a desired action at a desired location (e.g., a perforating gun that uses shaped charges to create holes in a well casing at a particular depth in the well).
In the past, rather complex methods have been used to determine when a given piece of downhole equipment is in the desired location in the wellbore. These methods are often imprecise, complex, and expensive.
There is a continued need for developing more intelligent and adaptable methods of drilling and completing oil and gas wells and for producing hydrocarbon containing fluids therefrom.